Baby-Led Weaning

One more weekend and then I get my husband back, yay! Olivia turns six months next week, just before the election. Louis and I agreed that once the election is over and he's home more often, we're gonna start giving Olivia solid foods. I can't believe I'm almost at my breastfeeding goal! After all the challenges we've had with breastfeeding, I'm so excited to have made it this far! I think I'm still gonna keep nursing for as long as I can, so the solid foods will be just for fun. The method we'll be using to introduce solids is called baby-led weaning, since anything that a baby receives other than breastmilk (or formula) technically means the weaning process has begun. I bought the book called Baby-Led Weaning and I'm looking forward to trying it out. The basic premise is that babies don't need specially prepared baby food and they, in fact, benefit from eating regular food right from the start (the start in this case being at least six months of age). The book and the trademark name are new but the concept sure isn't. Without being able to format my blog posts from my phone, here are a few of the key benefits of baby-led weaning: It leaves the baby in control of the process of eating. You are supposed to place a few safe foods in front of the baby and let them choose which ones they want to eat and how much, giving them a way to learn how to determine when to stop. By contrast, pureed foods need to be spoon-fed to a baby and the baby doesn't get a say in which foods to eat or how much. It's like how bottle-fed babies are often overfed because parents want the baby to finish the bottle, even if the baby is full, but breastfed babies just pull off when they're done. Another benefit is that the baby eats at the table at the same time as the parents, giving the parents a chance to eat their meals together instead of feeding the baby first then eating later. Eating real foods like steamed vegetables or raw fruit also teaches babies how to chew properly and how to learn the right size of food to eat, making them less likely to choke than if they eat pureed foods. The book says babies can eat just about anything the parents eat, minus sauces and extra sweet, salty, or hot stuff. The pieces of food should be big enough to stick out of their hand when they grab a piece to chew on, so things cut in strips are good. Apparently it's supposed to be a rather messy process because food gets everywhere and that we should know that any food before one year of age is meant to be for fun and for learning, not for nutrition. I'm sure I'm forgetting a bunch, but I was sold on the idea of not force feeding more than anything. I don't want to give Olivia any food issues. I vividly remember being forced to sit at the table until all my food was gone, even though I knew when I was very young that I wanted to be a vegetarian. I hated it. So, I love this idea of giving solids knowing that most of her nutrition will come from breastmilk and that everything else is just for fun. I also love the idea of not having to make pureed food, since I've heard it takes so much time. It would be really nice to eat at the table together as a family. I imagine it will also improve our diets if I'm feeding her what we eat and avoiding lots of salt and sugar. Anyway, we'll be giving it a try starting next week. I'm planning to lay down old tablecloths on the table in front of Olivia's highchair and also below it on the ground. I don't think I'll mind if food gets everywhere. I'm planning to start with organic sweet potato, banana, and avocado as first foods. I joined the baby-led weaning Facebook group and I'm hoping to buy the baby-led weaning cookbook soon. I hope Olivia likes solid food!